Can I have three WDs on the same computer?

At the moment I have Davis with a RS 232 logger working into the same WD computer as WeatherFlow. Am I being cheeky if I ask whether a third weather station with a USB connection could be connected into the same computer?

This FAQ seems to suggest it’s OK, as it mentions using 3wd.txt.

Yes, just be sure to have the 3wd.txt in place before starting the third instance. Keep an eye on Task Manager too, if all three are trying to do a lot of stuff at the same time you could run into problems.

Thanks, all. Indeed, it does work, even though my tiny little Chinese gizmo of a computer must be hard-working! I now have Davis, WeatherFlow and now Oregon showing more or less the same graphics and data on a single screen, so that visual comparisons are pretty good. When the Oregon graph shows a bit more data, I’ll try to do a screenshot to put on here, if I can get it down to a file size compatible with the forum requirements.

Also be sure to have the boxes checked in the setup menu to say that each of the instances can run independent of the other.

In other words, the default is if one of the programs errors or shuts down or you are configuring and want to restart just one of them, if you don’t alter this setting in each setup, all the instance will shut down if one does.

Brian graceously changed this a few months ago.

If you can’t find the setting box, let me know and I’ll look at my setup since I can’t recall exactly where the check box was in the setup menu.

It saved me a lot of restarts when I put three stations on one computer and was setting up or doing other tweaks.
And when an update is released, be SURE to update to the same release in all three of your installs.

Attached is a poor screenshot of my efforts. Top left: Davis VPII. Top right: Oregon. Bottom left: Weatherflow.

Notes: Davis wind vane not working. All three installed in slightly different locations (for the moment!). Rain shown in WF was an error. Note the WF temperature shows much longer time constant (thermal inertia of batteries); Davis and Oregon very much spot-on.


good way to compare :wink:

Out of curiosity, I went to the bother of doing a comparison of the temperature over 24 hours of the three systems.As can be seen, the Oregon and the Davis track reasonably well, but it must be mentioned that the Davis was a bit too close to a hedge, perhaps about 1 1/2 m. Of course, they each had their inbuilt non-aspirated screens. The WeatherFlow AIR did not have a screen, but it was placed in the shadiest spot I could find, away from any reasonable influences.

There was some intermittent sunshine from about 09:30 to about noon. After that it was overcast.

I won’t draw any conclusions from this graph, other than, perhaps, the WeatherFlow may profit from the presence of a screen. However, have a thought about the thermal inertia of temperature measuring systems!